Masking attachment for photographic finders



G. R. CALEY. MASKING ATTACHMENT FOR PHOTOGHAPHIC FINDERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16 1919. 1,347,681.

Patented July 27, 1920;

UNITED STATES GUY R. CALEY, 0F SILESIA, MONTANA.

PATENT OFFICE.

MASKING ATTACHMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC FINDERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1920.

Application filed July 16. 1919. Serial No. 311.214.

To all whom it "may concern:

Be it known that I, GUY R. OALEY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Silesia, in the county of Carbon and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Masking Attachments for Photographic Finders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had. to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to the view finders of photographic cameras,.and particularly to view finders which are pivoted upon the camera so as to be capable of being turned through a quarter revolution and permit the view finder to e used either for horizontal views or vertical views, that is permit the camera to be used for taking views whose longer axis is vertical orhorizontal.

One formof view finder is circular, that is the field of the view finder is circular, and inasmuch as thepicture to be taken is rectangular, it is obvious that itis imposs ble to accurately determine the boundaries of the picture in such a view finder. In order to avoid this, view finders have been made having a cross-shaped opening in the view finder, so as to provide tworectangular openings extending across each other at right angles, but here again the operator cannot accurately determine the boundaries of his view or the boundaries of the picture, and hence disappointments very often occur.

The general objectof my invention is to provide an attachment for the view finders,

another to rotate the mask, in which the field is cut'so as to rotate this mask in correspondence with the picture to be taken.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

' panying drawings, wherein My invention is illustrated in the accom- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a camera with my view finder attachment applied thereto Fig. 2'is a top plan view of the view finder with my attachment applied in position for taking vertical pictures;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation with the view finder rotated to a position to take horizontal pictures and with my.

attachment applied,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation like Fig. 3 but showing the view finder in position to take horizontal pictures; Fig. 5 is a face view of the front plate;

Fig. 6 isa top plan View of the cap; Fig. 7 is a cross section of the cap; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the masking plate.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that my masking device comprises, in the embodiment illustrated, a front plate 10 of sheet metal. which has a centrally disposed, circular aperture 11 and a downwardly extending portion 12. The circular aperture is notched or cutout atone side so as to provideshoulders 13 disposed in quarterlng relation to each other. One

upper corner of the plate 10 is diagonally.

extended to form an arm 14 which is longitudinally slotted for the depth of the arm,

as at 15.

Adapted to bedisposed and fit over the top of the view finder is a cap 16 which is square in form andmade of thin sheet metal and provided with an aperture 17 of a size equal to the size of the ground glass of the view finder. This cap has downwardly depending side walls 18 and a depending rear wall 19, and the sides are formed with inwardly projecting, triangu v lar prongs 20 struck up from the sheet metal of the side walls, and adjacent the top of the cap itself with a longitudinally extending slot 21. The rear wall is formed with a corresponding slot 22.

The third element of my. device. consists .of a circular masking plate of thin sheet metal, designated 23, having therein a rectangular aperture 24 having a size propor- .tionateto the photographic plate or 'film.

Attached to the upper face of this circular they view finder B (see Fig. 4;).

plate 23 is a wire 25 constituting an arm, which is attached to the face of the plate and then extends slightly above the plate and then extends longitudinally parallel to the long side of the aperture 24 and approximately at the corner of this aperture is extended at an angle of about 45 to the side of the aperture. The plate is formed with a slightly projecting lug 26 on its edge, which coacts with the slots 21 and 22 inthe cover plate or cap.

In assembling this device, the front plate 10 is disposed between the lens board A and This lens board is ordinarily cut away, at C, in certain formsof cameras and the lug 12 engages in the aperture C and prevents any rotation of the plate relative to the support on board A so that the longer axis of the plate 10 is always disposed in line with the longer axis of the member A and a line extending vertically through the camera. The masking plate23 is then put in place and rests upon the ground glass of the finder. The arm 25 is disposed through the slot 15 of the front plate. Thecap is then put in place, the prongs 20 preventing detachment of the cap. The arm 25, it will be seen, projects out through the circular aperture 17 in the cap and operates over the face of the cap. The lug 26 of the mask plate engages either in the slot 21 or the slot 22, as the case may be. The shoulders 13 on the frontplate act as stops for the notch on the view finder to work in.

WVith the parts disposed upon the view finder as described, then if it be desired to take a vertical picture, that is a picture in which the longer axis of the plate extends vertically, the view finder is shifted so as to bring its ground glass at the top ofthe camera and the parts of the masking attachment will be disposed as in Fig. 2. If now a horizontal picture is taken, that is a picture in which the longer axis of the plate or film extends horizontally, then the view finder is rotated a quarter turn from the position shown in Fig. 2. The rotation of the viewfinder a quarter turn carries with it the cap 16 and the mask 23, and as the cap and mask are carried around through this quarter turn, the arm 25 engaging the slot 15 will cause the mask to rotate through a quarter turn, that is from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. In doing this, the lug 26' will slip out of en gagement with the slot 21 and slip into engagement with the slot 22. Of course, upon a reverse movement of the view finder to its initial position, the mask will be again rotated reversely so as to bring the mask again to the position shown in Fig. 2.

It will be seen that my device is very simple, that it is composed of only three parts, and that these may be cheaply con structed and that it may be readily applied to a camera, either with the camera as originally made, or afterward.

lvhile I have shown an embodiment which is particularly adapted to a certain form of camera upon the market, yet it will be ob vious that by a slight modification it might be applied to any form of camera having a view finder of the class described. It will be likewise seen that with this device the operator does not himself have to rotate the mask from its vertical position to its horizontal position,, but that the mask is automatically shifted to the proper positions.

\Vhile I have illustrated only one embodiment of my invention, yet it will be obvious that the invention may be embodied in many different forms without departure from the spirit of the invention.

I claim 1. A masking attachment for the view finders of cameras comprising a front plate having an aperture for the finder lens and having an extension diagonal to the long axis of the front plate, the extension being diagonally slotted, said front plate having means whereby it may be held from rotation over the finder, a cap detachably engageable with the top of the finder and having an aperture in the top of the cap, and a masking plate disposed beneath the cap and having a rectangular aperture, the masking plate being rotatable within the cap through a quarter circle and having a diagonally extending arm engageable in the slot of the front plate whereby the masking plate shall be rotated through a quarter circle as the finder is retated through a quarter circle relative to the front plate.

2. The combination with a photographic view finder including a support, a lens, a reflector, and a glass upon which the image is presented, of ,a masking attachment therefor comprising a front plate having an aperture and engaging over the lens of the view finder and engaged in said support to hold it from rotation, the front plate being formed at one upper cornerv with an angularly extending, longitudinally slotted arm, a cap adapted tofit over the top of the finder and the glass thereof and having side walls formed with prongs, said cap having a circular aperture, and a circular masking plate disposed between the glass and the cap .and rotatable in this' space, said masking plate having arectangular aperture and an arm projecting radially fromthe face of the plate and through the cap and engageable in the slot of the arm carried by the front plate.

3. A masking attachment for the view finders of cameras comprising a front plate adapted to fit against the front wall 'of a finder casing and having an aperture for the finder lens and having means en gageable with camera whereby this front plate may be held from rotation with the finder, a cap adapted to fit over the top of the finder and over the ground glass thereof and having two side walls and a rear wall but being open upon its front, said cap having a circular aperture, and a rotatable, circular masking plate disposed within the cap and having a rectangular aperture, said front plate of the attachment having at one corner an upwardly and outwardly inclined slot, and the masking plate having an arm engageable through said slot whereby the masking plate shall be rotated through a quarter revolution upon the rotation of the view finder through a quarter revolution.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GUY R. CALEY.

Witnesses:

JOHN CALEY, H. B. PIERCE. 

